Mystery deepens as UTS staff sent 'more threatening letters'

Exclusive: Mysterious threatening letters are still being sent to UTS staff despite the recent arrest of a high-profile professor for allegedly masterminding a campaign of harassment against herself, nine.com.au has learned.

Sources inside UTS and familiar with the investigation have told nine.com.au up to 20 letters have been sent to university staff after the arrest of Professor Dianne Jolley four weeks ago.

As a result of the latest batch of apparent threatening letters, nine.com.au understands a plain clothes security operation is back in play, protecting at least one senior member of staff.

A UTS spokesperson would neither confirm or deny new threatening letters had been received by staff after Prof. Jolley's arrest.

"As there is an active police investigation we are unable to comment," the spokesperson said.

"However, the safety and wellbeing of our staff and student community is our number one priority."

Prof. Jolley is currently on leave, while her case moves through the courts. Her lawyer, Aaron Kerneghan, has said she is receiving full pay, a claim UTS has been unwilling to comment on.

A university source told nine.com.au Prof. Jolley's salary as Dean of Science would be $182,000 at a minimum.

UTS Dean of Science Dianne Jolley is led away by NSW Police after her arrest on campus in November. (Supplied)

Why was Professor Dianne Jolley arrested?

Before her arrest, Prof .Jolley told NSW police she received multiple threatening letters over a six-month period, from July to November.

As UTS sought to protect her, a private car was used to escort her to and from the campus in Sydney's CBD. Court documents showed UTS spent $157,000 on Prof. Jolley's security between late-July and mid-November.

NSW police said they are unsure what motive she had for the alleged fake harassment campaign. Investigations are ongoing.

Prof. Jolley's Faculty of Science spent several months reviewing the traditional Chinese medicine degree before announcing in September it was financially unviable and would be phased out. The UTS review also stated the degree, which it had offered to students for 25 years, was no longer a "strategic fit within the Faculty of Science".

The decision was controversial, and a petition of 9000 students and alumni fought to keep the course running.

UTS Dean of Science Dianne Jolley was arrested in November, and charged with orchestrating a fake harassment campaign against herself. (Supplied)

It is understood the decision will affect more than 20 staff and 250 students.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Prof. Jolley joined UTS as Dean of Science in December last year. She has sat on a number of national boards and committees in the science community, including the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and Science & Technology Australia.

Prof. Jolley was arrested at the UTS campus on 15 November. She was charged with dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception, give false information person/property in danger, and false representation resulting in police investigation.